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Resolution - Integris

WHEREAS the Oklahoma State Board of Health has declared tobacco use as Oklahoma's number one health problem; and

WHEREAS the Oklahoma Academy for State Goals, the Oklahoma Alliance on Health or Tobacco, Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy, Oklahoma State Medical Association, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, and numerous other concerned organizations have joined together to address Oklahoma's devastating tobacco use problem; and

WHEREAS Oklahoma's success in addressing its devastating tobacco use problem is dependent on effective policy and programs that will reduce tobacco use among youth, promote quitting among youth and adults, and protect Oklahomans of all ages and populations from exposure to secondhand smoke; and

WHEREAS it is estimated that the tobacco industry currently over $120 million per year in advertising and promoting tobacco products in Oklahoma, far more than the amount spent for this purpose prior to the Master Settlement Agreement in 1998; and

WHEREAS tobacco companies continue to influence public policy in Oklahoma in order to protect and promote tobacco sales; and

WHEREAS according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids the aggressive targeting of our youth by the tobacco industry demands an equally aggressive campaign of public education to prevent smoking initiation among youth, to encourage smokers to quit, and to change the social context of tobacco use so that pro-tobacco messages are no longer dominant; and

WHEREAS the Task Force on Community Preventive Services strongly recommends the use of mass media campaigns combined with other interventions to reduce tobacco use initiation and strongly recommends smoking bans and restrictions to reduce exposure to environmental tobacco smoke;

WHEREAS the Integris Health Lifespan Program has conducted a major, statewide paid public education campaign to promote effective tobacco use prevention and cessation policies and programs;

BE IT NOW RESOLVED that the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust Fund Board of Directors recognizes the Integris Health Lifespan Program for its outstanding initiative to aggressively promote sound tobacco use prevention and cessation policies and programs through a paid public education campaign utilizing newspaper, radio, and the Internet.